Campus Enforcement and Patrol (CEP) officers are Memorial University’s first responders whether it’s an accident, a fire, a bomb threat or a medical emergency.

Officers provide around-the-clock security services on Memorial’s St. John’s and Grenfell campuses. Sometimes, they don’t know what they’re going to face until they arrive so they need to be prepared for just about anything.

“My favourite part of training is knowing that I’m improving myself to help others here on campus.” — Officer Wendy Murphy

All officers are trained in first aid, CPR and emergency response procedures. However, in 2014 Memorial commissioned the Browne Report: Ensuring a Safe and Secure Learning Environment. One of the recommendations in that report is to hire a training co-ordinator and develop a plan to organize a standardized curriculum for CEP training and education. Because of this initiative, about 40 CEP officers and a number of members of management attended a variety of training sessions during the last six months.

“Training to enhance my skill set is so important as a front line responder,” said Officer Wendy Murphy, who has been with CEP for more than 15 years. “With training, I get the confidence to recognize and choose an approach to deal with different types of incidents and persons. My favourite part of training is knowing that I’m improving myself to help others here on campus.”

Suite of programs

Since September, officers have taken part in the following training programs: Residence Life, Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Program, N.L. Sexual Assault Crisis and Prevention Centre, Coalition of Persons with Disabilities, Autism Smarts, Mental Health First Aid, Evacuation Chair (E-vac Chair), Mass Notification, Assessment Care Protocol (ACP), Memorial’s Information Management System (MIMS), High Field Magnets Lab Orientation, Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner and the Legacy Leadership Program.

“In the past, training of our officers relied on external organizations such as the RNC and it was very ad hoc. It was very challenging to organize,” said John Browne, manager, CEP. “Hiring a co-ordinator means our officers get so much more of the training they need to provide the highest level of safety possible for the university. That’s our priority and we’re very proud of the education we’ve accomplished in such a short time.”